JDawgATX

Austin may take longer than 2035 to pass Dallas providing the suburbs don't as grow as fast and run out of area to grow. I also think Austin will eventually be mostly land locked but not as bad as Dallas. Austin's largest potential growth area is towards the southeast.

Austin doesn't need to grow out to gain population. The city is increasing the density within the city limits over the next 25 to 30 years. Under the Imagine Austin Plan, the city expects to add an additional 750,000 people within the city limits. There is plenty of space to do so without having to spread out farther. Having said that there will definitely be some spread out and of course the suburbs will continue to expand.

Well per the,recent census update from July 2013 to July 2014 Austin is 912,000 but again these numbers are already nearly a year old. There have also been some discrepancies since the original count in 2010. Taking those into account and the growth since July 2014 Austin's current population as of right now is very likely close to 960K.

Looks like things are going well, at least in terms of reservations. Latest info is about 300 units have been reserved and their sales office has only been open for a few days.

Yeah, Austin didn't have a massive boom in the 80s like Houston. I feel sorry for its residents and the traffic they'll surely have to continue enduring.

Austin did boom in the 80s like the other Texas cities. In fact most of the office towers we had until recently were built during the 80s oil and financial boom but we didn't overbuild which in the end helped us recover much faster.

As far as traffic goes it's been bad for a long while so it's nothing new for us. The reason why the city is building up rather than out is to get people living close to where they work and play. We are in a transitional akward phase. We've come a long way from even just 8 years ago, but we still have a good ways to go. Mass transit is the key and that will be the next challenge to overcome but if we do it right, Austin's core will be built up more like the cities of the northeast U.S. than a Texas sunbelt city. This process will take time though but it's amazing to see the city transform the way it has.

I think the main reason that it looks like a lot of construction is because it's very open, unlike our Downtown where it's covered massive buildings. Just my opinion...

Actually the reason why it looks like a lot of construction is because it is a lot of construction. About 9 city blocks with multiple highrises are being added to DT that was once taken up by a power plant and water treatment plant. That is just one area of DT seeing massive construction. Austin is in its largest building boom in the city's history and it's not slowing down anytime soon.

Will this make it the tallest building in Austin.

So close to 50, you would think, why not, add 3 more floors.

No, The Austonian is Austin's tallest at 56 floors but this tower will rival the Austonian in height though unless they add more to the tower will only make it the second tallest in the city. There are other towers that are as tall and or taller in the works so it may be one of the top 5 when all is said and done.

I like it a lot. Its very Miami-ish. It will dominate the east end of Downtown Austin.

City Council has voted to postpone their vote till April 24th. There are several details that need to be ironed out including more affordable housing. I would take that recent rendering with a grain of salt the end result will likely look different. Either way this project will happen, its been in the works for several years and will add 9 new blocks to the Downtown grid. This is the largest amount of land that is being redeveloped in the Downtown Core.

Construction should begin sometime in June.

Found this list of Austin projects, updated as of 1/09

http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/downlo...oster_jan09.pdf

Is it me, or do they seem to be over building? How are they getting this big time hotels condos etc when Houston is barely getting them. Just doesn't make sense in my head.

Actually no, they are not overbulding in downtown Austin. Demand continues to be strong for condo development and whatever is not under construction now, will not be built until the economy gets better. The 44 story 360 Tower which opened up summer of 08 only has 2 units left. Demand has also picked up since Jan 09 as people are begining to buy condos in towers that are still under construction.

Well I don't have alot of details on the re-development but I have been through the area recently. They have started construction of the neighborhoods surrounding the new Dell Childrens Hospital. A few months ago the shopping center opened and they are continuing to build fairly good size medical office buildings next to the hospital as well. This project definatly has long term viability and will greatly enhance that part of the city.

First Off I DID say some of the blame went to Austin, not just the State and Federal Governments. Austin did stop alot of the freeways being proposed and its a good thing they did. Had those freeways surrounded downtown studys have already come out stating that our downtown would be no where near as vibrant as it is today. The freeways would have acted as barriers and we probably would not be seeing any urban revival. So yea in the 50s and 60s Austin at first said no, but don't blame it all on Austin... The State and Federal governments has for more than 20 years givin the city scraps while the freeways of Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio continued to have their freeways built up. The City did ask for state and fedral money to expand I-35 and other areas in the 80's and again in the 90's and the city was TURNED DOWN... There has been a 10 year study of what to do with I-35 that has yet to really come out with any results and I have my doubts on if anything will be done anytime soon. Either way the city needs to change its thinking and work to further expand our alternate transportation needs.

Okay Ive lived in Austin all my life I can tell you that we are different than Houston and Dallas in some ways and that we are similar in others. Granted Austin has not done the best job in the world to stop urban sprawl especially west of the city in the hills, but we are making great leaps and bounds building up the inner core and downtown area. As far as traffic is concerned, alot of that is not the city of Austin's fault. Blame the State of Texas and the Federal government for not allocating enough money to the area. Granted if Austin went ahead and requested federal grants back in the late 50's and 60's like Houston and Dallas did, we would probably have a much better freeway system than we do now. The thing was at that time they city did not believe it would ever be a large city, now we are paying the price of what our former city leaders and voters did back then. We are getting Commuter rail starting sometime in mid 2008, though it may not be the best choice that voters approved, its still better than nothing at all. I think the city is doing a great job in making sure there is a good mix of residential, office, and retail in the core so people will not have to rely on cars all the time. I think that in effect the traffic will not be any more congested once most of the residential highrises are complete because most people living in them will not need to drive around to get what they need when they can just walk down the street and have everything they need right there. It will take another 3 to 5 years but that is where we are headed. In a few years the city will not be recognizable as our downtown will be the 3rd densest and tallest downtown behind Houston and Dallas. Alot of critisizm about Austin in here is mainly about the people and how the people boast so much. I can agree some people go too far with that but don't just judge a city by how some people make it sound like its the best place in the world to be. We have a huge homeless issue here wich I feel is something that needs alot of attention in helping to relieve. The city needs to push the state and Fed for more money for road improvements though I doubt we will see much of anything the way things are going. We have our problems too don't get me wrong but overall, I think we are doing pretty well in trying to deal with some of those issues while in others, we need more work to be done.

By the way the Austonian is not going to be the only condo tower in that area. Right across the street at 2nd and Colorado streets, the AltaVida tower is going up, and a block over the new W hotel. That area is going to continue to densify also there are plans for a second tower on the same block as the Austonian though there is not set timeframe. I would bet it would be a tall tower as well.

Highrise living at the moment is really targeted toward either single professionals or empty nesters who are relocating here. I believe soon it will start to change to families and younger people as eventually the prices will be more competitive once there is more supply for the demand. Right now most of the condos are alittle on the pricy side though the developers are required to put I think 10 percent of the units to affordible housing prices for lower income people. Austin is big on nature but this is actually the best way to go to keep Austin as natural as possible. If we dont build up, then we build out and that causes more wide spread development destroying more land. The taller a building can be, the smaller the footprint is. Slowly but surely people here are beggining to understand this though there are several neighborhood associations around downtown that are hard core NIMBYs and even after you point the obvious benifets to the city they still dont care. Austin is changing right now but its not what it used to be. it still has alot of qualities though that it has kept from loosing over the years. I think in the next decade your going to see a more sophisticated Austin though still charming will feel much more urban in the downtown and central core and hopefully still natural around the city's edge. As far as grocery stores and such several smaller grocers are located in downtown and I think in the near future we should see another grocery store either within downtown or very near. We do have some dry cleaners and other stores that are within walking distance and in time there will be many more choices.

Waterfront District?

Yea its the name that is now being used for the Southeast quadrant of downtown bounded by I-35 to the East, the Colorado river to the south and west, Cesar Chavez to the north. It is poised to become a fairly dense part of downtown with many highrises.

Hey I have a few updates and also wanted to clear some miss-info about some of the buildings. First off the Austonian will be 56 stories, not 55 stories. It will be 683 feet and has broken ground as of Friday Aug 31st.

The Spring tower broke ground about a month ago and will rise to 42 stories.

360 has recently made local history as it passed Frost Bank in the number of floors and is now I think on the 37th floor of the 44 story tower.

The Monarch Tower is nearly topped out and they are working on the penthouse floors and the main roof now. It has been listed as 29 stories but recently on their web site they stated 30 stories I think because of the two level penthouses at the top.

101 Colorado tower is 37 stories not 36 and we are finally seeing it rise out of its pit after a year since groundbreaking.

the Shore tower has topped out and they are finishing the exterior of the 22 story tower in the Waterfront district. We should be seeing a second crane tower in a few months next to the shore as they should be starting on the 29 story hotel soon.

The 31 story Legacy Tower is still in its early stages of construction but it should not be long before we see the crane rise up on the site.

As of right now we are waiting to hear new info on the 5th at Congress or T/Stacy tower. There is no official date for groundbreaking and latest word is that Tom Stacy and Associates have been re-working the ammount of residential and office space they want in the tower as there have been many new condo/appartment towers that have started construction since they first announced the project. We possibly may be seeing a re-design of the building as they will likely incorporate more office space rather than residential space.

C21 project is a 44 story 580 foot condo/museum that will rise on 3rd at Brazos just east of Congress Avenue and should really impact the skyline viewing from I-35 going through downtown. I believe groundbreaking for this project is right now set for Jan of 2008.

The Four Seasons Residency Tower which I am not sure exactly what the floor ammount will be due to recent articles stating it will be around 30 or 31 stories when we had heard 38 stories should break ground in the next 2 to 3 months though again i am not 100% sure.

CBL partners plans to break ground on a 32 story residential tower at 7th and Rio Grand right behind Katz's Deli within the next 3 months or so.

The W Hotel and residences will be 36 stories and they have started work on the sales office which will be right on site with the building. Construction should be within the next 2 to 3 months.

I think thats it for the major projects though there are several smaller projects that are happening which I am blurred about because of the shear ammount. As for the Twelve at the Domain I believe they will start construction on what I last heard will be a 28 story building sometime at the beginning of 2008.

Construction has begun on Villa muse with the first part of the project wich includes a 70,000 seat Ampitheater to be finished by next year.

Those are pretty old pictures from back in winter of last year judging by the lake level being so low. The building is much further ahead and the outside of it is pretty much done. I hadn't seen Lake Travis that low in my life. But wouldn't you know it with all the spring rains we had the lake is now a foot over flood stage. What a difference 6 months can make.

The Austonian will likely not be the tallest building in Austin for too long. Even if the 5th at Congress tower design changes it should still be taller. And there are rumors floating around of something even taller than 5th at Congress, so I don't think you have to worry about the Austonian being the tallest for a decade more like 3 or so years.

I don't see why Austin can't have a dominating skyline for a city of now over 700,000 inside the city limits and over a 1.5 million metro? Come on people, there are cities smaller than we are that have bigger skylines. By the way I got some information from a really cool forumer on another site that did some research regarding the Austonian. Officially the height of the building is 683 feet. Even though it wont break the 700 foot mark it will still have the title of the tallest building in Texas outside of the Houston and Dallas areas. It will be the Tallest all residential building in Texas. And unless some other projects in other cities come to reality, it will be the tallest all residential tower west of the Mississippi River. One thing that Austin is trying to do is lessen the urban sprawl. With a dense downtown as a start and as the city continues to densify the inner-city, that will help a bit. Also the Austonian may not stay the tallest for long once built. The 5th at Congress tower is not out of the picture yet and from what we know right now Tom Stacy who is the developer is changing a good amount of its components to office space. Not sure if the building's design has changed but more than likely will have to be tweaked and wether or not the height has changed we will have to wait and see. Last but not least we can not stop growth just like Houston or Dallas can't stop growth or many other cities for that matter. But what we are doing is we are trying to make Austin a livable city as it continues to get larger and larger.

the 31 story Legacy Tower has started construction in the Waterfront District of downtown.

Austin is a great city to live but I suggest you consider living within the city limits of Austin. Living in the suburbs, your going to have to rely on your car. Depending on what your looking for in a home and your price range you can find some affordable areas within the city limits. Depending on where in the city you could be living very close to everything you could possibly need within walking distance. I live in South Austin and I can walk to grocery stores, shops, restraunts, parks. I can take the bus anywhere in the city easily. Downtown is only 4 and a half miles away. Im even within 5 blocks of a hospital. Austin has some pretty bad traffic so I would consider living within easy access of mass transportation or within walking distance of places where you normally would need to go.

I need to get some pictures taken but both cranes for the Monarch tower and the 360 tower have risen higher. Monarch is now at 22 stories and 360 is on the 18th floor. Also demolition has begun at the Spring tower site with construction set to begin in the next 2 or so weeks. That tower will have 42 stories. The Austonian sales office is open and they have put up billboard signs on the site at the corner of Congress and Second Street. The Four Seasons Residencies site also has billboard signs up. Things should really start taking off in June with more tower construction.

Villa Muse Studios, A $1.5 Billion Complex Including Videogame Development

Posted on Monday, April 16 @ 14:35:16 PDT

Authorities in Texas are building Villa Muse, a $1.5 billion mixed-use development including residential, retail and commercial spaces anchored by the $125-million, 200-acre Villa Muse Studios, developed for the film, television, advertising, music and videogame industries.

Phase one, to be open by the end of 2008, will include a variety of soundstages, including the largest purpose-built soundstage in North America (50,000 square feet), a scoring stage, recording studios, and an outdoor amphitheater with a capacity of over 70,000. VILLA MUSE executives estimate that the overall project will generate roughly 8,000 new jobs upon completion and will create capacity for 8,500 residents.

The announcement coincides with the recent vote by the Texas House of Representatives on House Bill 1634, authored by Dukes and sponsored by Deuell, providing state-funded incentives for film and television production. (The VILLA MUSE project will not receive funds appropriated by HB 1634.)

"I am very excited about the VILLA MUSE project and the many projects sure to come to Texas in the future as a result of our work this session on House Bill 1634, the incentives program for the film industry," Rep. Dukes said. "Neighboring states and foreign cities like Toronto are aggressively working to lure Texas filming opportunities away from the state. House Bill 1634 will level the playing field for our state in comparison to other film venues. We have made a grand investment in the future of Texas."

"Providing incentives for the film industry will create new jobs and enhance the role of Texas as a national leader in television and film production. The VILLA MUSE project is a textbook example of how the government can effectively use state-funded incentives to promote private industry for the public good," said Senator Deuell.

Located just off of the SH130 corridor, 15 minutes east of downtown Austin, VILLA MUSE will be an innovative 681-acre development anchored by the 200-acre Villa Muse Studios -- a professional campus for the creative industries offering high-end production and post-production facilities for film, television, commercials, music and videogames that will include soundstages, recording studios, an amphitheater, areas for backlots and the largest outdoor water tank for film production in the U.S.

"VILLA MUSE will address the needs of our thriving creative industries in Texas, while attracting business that has been out of reach and forced to go elsewhere," Jay Aaron Podolnick, founder and CEO of VILLA MUSE, said. "Meanwhile, VILLA MUSE will give Texas a centralized location where creative talent can come together to cross-pollinate and communicate in a uniquely innovative environment. And true to its name, it will be a place to live, work and be inspired."

A master-planned residential community will orbit the studio campus. Designed to serve as a living, breathing backlot, neighborhoods will be built in an array of styles to meet a variety of filming needs. Ranging from New York brownstones to Craftsman bungalows to manors and estates, these residences will be open for sale to the public.

"VILLA MUSE will provide infrastructure on par with the finest facilities in the world at a highly competitive cost," said Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, vice president of strategic development. "VILLA MUSE will give creative professionals everything they need to live and work in one area without sacrifice or compromise."

The entrance to Villa Muse Studios will be located at the end of a broad boulevard lined with retail, office, residential and hospitality spaces. Situated at the other end of the boulevard will be a large public park and five to six mixed-use buildings -- with retail on the ground floor and office spaces above.

To date, the team has finalized an initial project plan, utilizing a number of cities, streets and places around the world for inspiration. VILLA MUSE has secured phase one funding, and, in partnership with Carpenter & Associates -- a leading real estate development, brokerage and investment firm -- has secured the land for the project.

VILLA MUSE is led by Founder and CEO Podolnick -- a producer/engineer who founded Texas' first 24-track recording facility in 1972, helping give birth to the Austin music scene. Podolnick has worked with such artists as Marianne Faithfull, Eric Johnson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Christopher Cross, Dan Hartman, Stephen Doster and The Electomagnets, and has worked in some of the world's most famous studios such as Power Station, New York; Air Studios, London; Electric Lady, New York; and Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles.

The VILLA MUSE team includes:

Rupert Neve, chief technology office -- a leading expert in the field on audio equipment design who was named "Man of the Century" by Studio Sound Magazine and was awarded a GRAMMY